Seeing

"It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary." A quote from photographer David Bailey.

Hope I don't make any painters mad, but it is true. So often in looking a the work of friends, I see a really nice picture deep inside their picture. They shot the whole scene, but missed the real picture.

Sometimes it is because so much is going on, and the picture gets lost in the overall. Sometimes it is really subtle, or only there for a brief second, then gone. You have to learn to look, learn to see. You have to be alert for that moment, the change in expression, the change in the light.

Learning this craft is so much more than fstops and shutter speeds. You learn to look at the whole scene to find your picture, then as you work with your subject you watch the light, and what is in the background. How will it change your photograph?

So many things influence a photograph. To see the change is good, but to anticipate is even better. Sometimes you just know what is about to happen, then you wait and wait. Be patient. When it all comes together, it is so worth it. Sometimes it doen't happen. Don't be discouraged, try again.

After you are done, look at each frame you shot. What could have made each one better? Every assignment I shoot, I think of all the things I should have done for a better photo as I drive back to the office. Always learning. Always chasing that better image.